


The icing on the cake

by BladeoftheNebula



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, Minor Injuries, The Cake Is A Lie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24866512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BladeoftheNebula/pseuds/BladeoftheNebula
Summary: Steve’s a bit low on cash this month, so he figures making a bit extra by jumping out of a cake couldn’t hurt.If only someone had told the birthday boy that.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 58
Kudos: 282
Collections: Stony Loves Steve 2020





	The icing on the cake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lacrimula_Falsa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacrimula_Falsa/gifts).



> My fill for Stony Loves Steve 2020! Hope you like it ❤️❤️❤️
> 
> Big thank you to Musilver for the beta ✨ Appreciate it hon 😘
> 
> * * *

“I’m not sure I can do this.”

“Sure you can,” Bucky told him as he rummaged through a plastic bag, face twisted in concentration. “It’ll be a piece of cake. Literally!”

“Shut up,” Steve muttered, arms crossing over his chest.

“Hey, you don’t get to be like that,” Bucky threw over his shoulder. “You’re the one who’s too proud to take a loan from me.”

Alright, maybe there was a bit of truth to that. Steve huffed, annoyed.

“It wouldn’t be a problem if the companies I work for just paid their damn invoices on time,” Steve grumbled, even though he’d already told Bucky the same thing a dozen times. 

“Yeah, yeah, but they haven’t and you’re short for rent and need cash. The sooner you suck it up and accept it, or better yet, just  _ take the loan from me,  _ the better it’ll be.”

“I’m not taking your money, Buck.”

“Then quit whinging. Ah! Perfect!”

He held a pair of tiny, tight, spandex shorts aloft in triumph. They were a deep blue, with red and white stripes down the sides and stars on both cheeks. Oh god.

“I’m not wearing those.”

“They’re perfect. You look like the all-American type, it’s a decent gimmick.”

Steve’s chin fell to his chest. Fuck. Well. it’s not like he had any better ideas. “Fine.”

“Great.” Bucky handed him the shorts and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Look, I know it’s not ideal, but I did my homework. It’s purely for entertainment, just the show, no bad touching and it’s all above board. The company’s owned by two women, one of them being my friend Nat, and she runs a tight ship. You jump out of the cake, smile, maybe flex your muscles some, get loads of tips and you’re done. Easy.”

That made Steve feel a little better. “Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

“That’s the spirit. Oh, yeah, you’ll need these too.” He dropped a handful of something onto Steve’s palm and Steve stared in confusion. 

They looked like red, white and blue streamers, but attached to something that looked a little like...suction cups? What the hell could these possibly be for-

“Are these nipple tassels?!” Steve’s voice came out almost in a shriek and Bucky rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, they’re part of the outfit. The woman I spoke to told me they’re fun. And they’re a nice distraction if you get nervous.”

“I’m not wearing these.”

“Steve.”

“I’m not.”

* * *

Steve itched at the side of the tassel where the adhesive was pulling at his skin. He felt ridiculous, crouched inside a giant cake, waiting for his cue. 

The shorts had turned out to be just as revealing as they’d looked and even harder to crouch in. 

Also, he felt sticky. Just...generally sticky. It was gross. 

He felt the cake start to move, and nerves started to writhe around in his stomach. Valkyrie, one of the women that owned the business had put a lot of his fears at rest.

“It’s seriously easy money,” Valkyrie told him as she handed him the event checklist. “We vet our bookings to make sure they’re safe, and we have them sign all sorts of contracts. And on top of that, we have a bouncer who will go with you. You’ll be completely safe.” She grinned. “It’s me, I’m the bouncer.”

Steve looked at the way her biceps bulged beneath the blazer she was wearing. “I believe it.”

“So, it’s very easy. Get in the cake, burst out of the cake, shake what your mama gave you and then let the tips roll in. You keep any tips on top of your base fee, so it’s up to you how much you earn.” She handed him a wrist strap with a small black box on it, and two buttons. “The clients prefer not to have a glaring woman looming over the party, so I’ll be in the car outside. You hold down both buttons for five seconds, I’ll come running.”

“Got it.”

“Good luck. I know you’ll be great.” She patted him on the shoulder before leaving him with the large frosted monstrosity.

So now he was in the cake, and he could hear cheering as he was wheeled into the main party area. He gave the top of the cake a little nudge to test the give. It resisted more than he expected — he’d have to give it some force when he jumped. 

The sounds outside the cake were muffled, but he could hear the beginnings of what was clearly a speech and coiled his muscles in preparation. He took a few deep breaths. He could do this.

His ears were pricked for his cue, and then he heard it, the speaker raising their voice to say, “Happy Birthday, Tony!”

That was it. He shot himself upwards, putting strength in his leap so that he burst out of the cake in a rush, arms up and already shaking his hips and trying to make the tassels spin. The Youtube videos he’d watched had made it clear they were always a crowd-pleaser. The frosting rained down as his pecs bounced with the movement and Steve figured this wasn’t too bad, this was--

“OW! Meh ngose!”

Steve turned slightly to the side to see a man holding his face, blood pouring into his cupped hands.

Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

“Oh my god,” Steve managed, the horror settling as a lump in his stomach. “Did I do that? I’m so sorry!”

The man, who Steve assumed was the birthday boy, waved a hand at him, grimacing when small droplets of blood splattered on the floor. “S’ok.”

He looked at Steve trying to smile, and though it was marred by gore, Steve couldn’t help but notice the gorgeous brown eyes looking back at him. 

Then he realised with a flinch that there were other people in the room. Just a handful thankfully, with one woman helpfully grabbing napkins for Tony, and a man bent over laughing himself sick. 

“Fuck you, Rhodes,” Tony said, pointing at laughing guy. 

Laughing guy, Rhodes, looked up trying to pull himself together before he burst out laughing again. “Only you, I swear Tones. Only you would get hit in the face by a male model.”

Well that was flattering at least.

“Haha.” Tony winced. “Ok but this actually really hurts.”

“I’m so sorry. Is there a bathroom? I can fix you up.”

The woman holding the tissues pointed towards the hallway off the living room. “It’s the second door on the right.”

“Come on,” Steve said, grabbing Tony by the elbow. “Let’s go.”

He led Tony into the large bathroom lifting him to sit on the sink. 

The man let out a surprised sound. “So those muscles aren’t just for show.”

Steve flushed. “Ah, yeah, I like to work out.” He grabbed a dark coloured cloth from a drawer Tony pointed to and wet it, starting to try and clean away the blood.

“Well, I don’t mean to undermine your skills, but doctors don’t strike me as the sort of people who jump out of cakes,” Tony offered, he tried to smile but winced as it pulled at his sore nose. “But correct me if I’m wrong, the health system vastly underpays it’s workers after all, so if you’re moonlighting-”

Steve snorted. “Nah, nothing like that. My ma’s a nurse and she taught me plenty, but mostly I just got in a lot of fights as a kid, so I’m very familiar with the aftermath of a good thump on the nose.” He cringed. “I’m really sorry about that by the way.”

Tony waved a hand. “Really, it’s fine. Gave Rhodey a big laugh and isn’t that birthdays are all about? The spirit of giving?”

“I feel like that’s Christmas, but I’ll let you have it.” He carefully eased the damp cloth around the edge of Tony’s nose trying to be gentle, especially as he knew just touching it could be painful. It was already starting to swell.

“So, is cake jumping your full-time gig?”

Steve shook his head. “First time. Just a bit short on cash this month, so I figured why not?”

“What do you normally do?”

“I do graphic design for marketing. I’m freelance so I rely on everyone paying their invoices on time, but a bunch of them don’t, so sometimes you need to cake jump,” he joked, rubbing carefully at Tony’s cheek. 

“You’re a big guy, can’t you just go shake them down? Break some kneecaps?”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Some of them are bigger guys than me. Stark Industries for one. If I try and shake them down they’d toss me out on my ass.”

“Oh? Surely not. Stark Industries has a thirty-day deadline on all contractor fees,” Tony said, frowning slightly.

“Welp, they’ve got a really interesting idea of what thirty days means. This is the second month in a row they haven’t paid me.”

“That’s definitely not good enough. It certainly falls short of the company’s standards.”

“And how would you know what Stark Industries- Oh.” Because Steve had just wiped away the last of the blood, and even with the swelling, he could see who the man behind the puffy nose was. “Oh god, you’re Tony Stark.”

Tony grinned and gave a little wave. “Guilty. And sorry my company made you jump out of a cake. Well, sorry you felt you had to jump out of a cake. I’m not sorry I got to see you shirtless and covered in frosting.” His eyes dipped slightly and then flicked back up to Steve’s. “Or wearing nipple tassels.”

Steve looked down, because he’s honestly forgotten what he was wearing, so caught up in Tony’s injury and he flushed all the way to his ears. 

“Oh shit.”

Tony laughed, and it was nice, a deep, rumbling sound that seemed to go through Steve’s body like a bass beat. How had he not recognised  _ Tony Stark _ ? He was just as hot as everyone said he was, but also now Steve had maybe ruined his face FOREVER and the whole world was going to hate him for it.

“Don’t worry, most people freak out when they meet me so this was good.” He crossed his eyes to look at his nose, which Steve definitely shouldn’t have found endearing but definitely did. “Tell me doc, will I ever be beautiful again?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “We can but hope,” he managed cheerfully, helping Tony down. “We need to get you some frozen peas though and I need to convince Valkyrie to not sue me for breaking one of her clients.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, also my face really hurts. Peas?”

Steve got changed back into his regular clothes and set Tony up on the couch, the other partygoers gathering around to joke with him and one showing a video they had recorded. 

God, he looked ridiculous coming out of the cake - punching the host notwithstanding. 

Eventually he peeled away, getting Valkyrie to help him pack up the cake and take it out to the van. Her laughing at him hadn’t helped his mood at all.

“Stop! It was so embarrassing!”

She wiped a tear from her eye as they wheeled the cake into the back. “I can honestly say we’ve never had this happen, and now that it has, I want to know how.” She laughed again. “I’m so getting Rhodey to send me that video.”

Steve opened his mouth to complain when he heard someone calling out. He turned to see Tony, still holding the bag of peas to his face, jogging across the front yard to meet them. “Hey, spangles, wait up.”

“It’s Steve,” Steve said, almost begging. Please don’t let this hot man only remember him for the sparkly booty shorts he’d been wearing.

“Steve then,” Tony said with a smile. “I was thinking maybe you and I could meet for coffee tomorrow? Sort out that invoice situation?”

“Oh, I-“ Valkyrie’s elbow smacked him in the ribs. “Yes, absolutely.”

“Great! Let me get your number.”

By the time he got into the van, Steve had Tony Stark's number, and a coffee meet up for 10 AM somewhere near Stark Tower. He was feeling a little like he was dreaming.

“Unbelievable,” Valkyrie muttered, starting the van. “I can’t believe you punched a celebrity in the face and ended up with a date.”

“It’s not a date!” Steve protested. “It’s a friendly business meeting.”

“Uh-huh, well I’m going to say that I’ve never had a business meeting with anyone who’s seen my tits bursting out of a cake.”

Steve hid his face in his hands.

* * *

Steve sat at the diner table, fiddling with his phone when the sound of the door had him looking up —

—and trying to slide under the table.

Because Tony’s nose was twice the size today, evident even under the dressing he’d put on it.

“Oh no,” he managed as Tony spotted him to wave and watched as the other man made a beeline for the little table. 

“I know right? Yikes. I checked with the doctor this morning, she agreed with you about letting it do its own thing. What can you do?” He slid into the seat opposite. “I’m hideous I know.”

“You’re not hideous,” Steve protested. Because even with a swollen nose, Tony was still handsome. What with his dark, wavy hair, and a toned, well-built body that Steve couldn’t help but eye up. 

“You’re not hard on the eyes either handsome,” Tony told him with a wink. “But, let’s put that to the side for a moment. Business before pleasure.”

Steve felt a shiver down his spine. Pleasure was on the table?

Alright, that wording was dangerous, he thought, as an image of Tony spread out on the diner table in front of him popped into his head. He managed to keep a straight face though as he smiled at Tony. “Sure, yeah, let’s— do the talking about that.”

_ Smooth. _

Tony grinned as he flagged down the waitress, ordering coffee for both of them. 

“So I talked to accounts, gave them a good talking to and transferred the guy that the whole team hated because he was lazy to another job. One with less responsibility. So really, everyone’s happy,” Tony said, clapping his hand together with a flourish. “Anyway, long story short, you should have your money in the next 24-48 hours.”

“Oh my god, that’s, fuck, that’s great, thank you,” Steve managed. He’d still be on time to pay his rent. 

“Plus a little bonus. Uh uh, no complaining,” he said as Steve opened his mouth to do just that. “Most freelancers add on a no-pay fee, which you for some reason don’t, so I took the liberty of adding it for you. So, go wild! Buy yourself another pair of booty shorts.”

Steve honked out an embarrassing laugh. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I wore the flag on my ass. Thank you though, Tony, I really mean that.”

“Hey, I’m a fan. Love a bit of patriotism. Makes me want to stand to attention every time,” Tony told him, shamelessly and Steve’s face went red. 

“Anyway, it’s no trouble. Also I looked at your work, it’s amazing. I think it’ll be perfect for this charity project we’re doing, so you should be getting an email in the next day or so from marketing and the project coordinator asking if you’re interested.” He smiled. “Hope that’s ok.”

“That is definitely ok,” Steve said, feeling a bit overwhelmed. He hadn’t expected all this when he’d come here. 

Tony gave him another grin, and fuck. If he was only going to get one shot at this he had to take it. 

“So, Mr. Stark,” he started, leaning forward on his elbows. “Now that you’re no longer in my debt, I don’t suppose you’d be interested in us maybe seeing each other again? Maybe without a big cake and accidental assault in the mix?”

Tony laughed, eyes bright behind the bandage. “Aw, but that was my favourite part. Especially your face after you realised what happened. Priceless.”

Steve gave him a light kick under the table. “Hey!”

“Alright, alright, maybe not my favourite part. I think that honour goes to getting to stare at that chest of yours while you patched me up,” his voice went deep and seductive. “I’d really like to see it again if it’s all the same to you.”

Steve felt heat stir in his belly and he nodded. “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.” 

They drank their coffees when they arrived, chatting and flirting, and Steve was pretty sure looking like a pair of lovesick teenagers. 

When they got up, Steve paid the bill, despite Tony’s protests and they made their way outside. 

“I’d love to stay, but I really have to get back to work,” Tony told him apologetically. “I can’t wait to see you again though.”

“Saturday night. I’ll remind you,” Steve told him with a grin. 

“Great, I’ll see you then,” Tony agreed. “Oh and Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Wear the tassels.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi! Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/BladeoftheNebu1)/[Tumblr](https://bladeofthenebula27.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Join the [Put on the Suit (18+) server](https://discord.gg/z5WSqbS) over on discord to hang out with fellow stony fans! It’s a super welcoming community and we have a lot of fun ♥️


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